At the bar at NEKO, I pride myself on being the joyful, informative face for very excited customers as they enter the cafe or plan their next visit. I manage the scheduling of reservations in our cat room and check customers in hourly. I also provide the majority of customer interaction and sales including answering phones, directing vendors, describing novel procedures to current & potential customers, maintaining the bar area, fulfilling food/drink orders, & facilitating merchandise/apparel purchases. With a business model that people aren't accustomed to, NEKO provides me with my favorite challenge of describing new (and in COVID-era, complex) ways of moving through a business to a customer base that includes native Seattlites and global travelers of every age.

As a Cat Room Bouncer at NEKO, my day-to-day work primarily consists of constant customer service to cafe visitors, extremely detail-oriented cleaning, and providing doting care to the adoptable special needs cats that make themselves at home in the cat room. Extending some of the responsibilities I held in my marketing internship with NEKO, I also continue to design social media content and manage the dynamic physical signage in the cafe. Juggling a variety of ever-changing unique tasks and personalities with furry little wild cards never makes for a boring day.While it may sound like a simple role in an eclectic space, my time at NEKO has taught me an immense amount about communication across cultures (oftentimes in some odd circumstances). Each hour, I find myself delivering a significant amount of information regarding the cafe. The task of informing while creating a warm, comfortable environment between 10 strangers in a room full of cats is a process that requires a careful understanding of ones’ audience. Alongside my wonderful coworkers, I value every attempt to use storytelling to help foster laughter and compassion to keep visitors coming back.

As Marketing Intern at NEKO Seattle, I assisted in social media promotion through persistent engagement, developed a series of branded content to feature on our account, attended events in promotion of the cafe, found & contacted relevant brands to secure partnerships, wrote occasional blog posts & expository copy, designed & crafted physical media for events & on-site promotion, and assisted in brainstorming & research to find innovative ways to connect with our community.

With a lifelong obsession with aesthetics that tell stories, I began my journey as a freelance designer like so many do: by accident. Starting with a few people in the community reaching out to me in high school for small projects after I began posting my small lettering projects on Instagram, my adoration and skill for design grew with every client. After increasing my portfolio little-by-little, I now work with a variety of small businesses and non-profit organizations to ensure that their social media, email, or web content communicates their stories effectively.While I primarily get to work on visual communication for digital spaces, I also have experience with print design as an illustrator. After recently completing Seattle Pacific University’s Art in 2D Media program alongside my Communications major, I’m uniquely poised as a designer, illustrator, and trained communicator with an understanding of digital advertisement that aids in my design thinking. I enjoy working on web and social media design, as well as custom typography, print signage/posters, and eye-catching illustration.

As a Stage Management Apprentice for a production of Beauty & the Beast at Village Theatre Kidstage, I attended and supervised daily production rehearsals; created calendars, master properties lists, and contact sheets through rehearsal and performance process; developed quick creative solutions to problems regarding time schedules, safety, and properties; and facilitated communication between tech leads and actors.